Reliance Jio Live TV: How it will break cable TV, DTH monopoly

The attractive rates offered by Jio would be the biggest menace for cable TV and DTH that charge good amount of money for their services

Reliance Jio’s entry has already shaken and stirred other telecom operators in the country. Major players in the telecom industry like Idea, Airtel and Vodofone are now on the run to slash their rates to combat the game-changer giant.

But Jio is not ready to limit its services to the telecom industry alone. It has also tried a hand in Live TV services. Jio TV, with its multiple unique features, has so far stolen the hearts of thousands of customers.

For Live TV, Reliance will offer a Android OS based set-top-box (STB) which will facilitate both broadband and television services.

The STB, which is user-friendly, attractive in design and compact, can be used with multiple drives. Tablet, TV and voice control are a few among them.

For bettering its services, Jio will provide outdoor customer premise equipment (CPE) that will connect to its mobile tower. It has been developed on Google’s Android platform. Besides CPE, Reliance Jio has also plans to connect to those homes which won’t get strong signals with optical fibre network (FTTH).

Live TV services will also give opportunities to “catch up” your favourite shows with seven days of stored content.

This newest technology has put cable TV companies and DTH services in the country on tenterhooks.

The attractive rates offered by Jio would be the biggest menace for cable TV and DTH that charge good amount of money for their services.

To make the services more fast and popular, Jio has hired two former CEOs of leading cable companies.

K Jayaraman, former in charge of Hathway Cable & Datacom, is the CEO of Reliance Jio’s MSO (multi-system operator) business.

Former CEO of DEN Networks SN Sharma is also in the team.

“With Jayaraman and Sharma on the same side, it is going to be a formidable team. One is reminded of the pre-DEN era when they were together at Hathway. Now with the backing of Reliance and oodles of capital, they are a force to reckon with,” a former CEO of a leading MSO quoted in a news website as saying.

However, it is sure that both will take Jio TV to another level where other players will have to work hard to combat them.